Final grades for Ohio State football

A grade card on Ohio State's regular season and its postseason in the Big Ten championship game against Indiana and in its College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against Miami. OFFENSE Regular season: A- Postseason: C- Ohio State averaged 37 points a game on offense in its 12 regular-season games before a 13-10 loss to Indiana and a 24-14 loss to Miami. The only games Ohio State produced fewer yards of total offense than the 332 yards it had against Indiana and the 322 yards it gained against Miami were the Texas game (203 yards) and the Illinois game (272 yards). Ohio State did not score in the last 40 minutes against Indiana and was shut out in the first half against Miami. After allowing only six sacks of quarterback Julian Sayin in the regular season OSU's offensive line was no match for Indiana's pass rush (5 sacks) and Miami's (5 sacks). Sayin barely had time to set up much less read the defense on some plays against the Hurricanes. And he made a costly mistake of his own when he threw an interception which Miami's Keionte Scott returned 72 yards for a touchdown that put OSU in 14-0 hole. DEFENSE Regular season: A Postseason: B During the regular season Ohio State's defense, which led the nation in fewest points allowed per game (9.2), was widely viewed as the unit which could make the difference for the Buckeyes in any game. But that defense was unable to shut down Indiana and Miami late in the fourth quarter when those teams ran out most of the clock and, in Miami's case, scored a final touchdown. Indiana's last possession began with 2:48 left in the Big Ten championship game. Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza completed a 33-yard pass for a first down, which allowed the Hoosiers to run off all but 18 seconds of the time on the clock before punting to OSU's 14-yard line. Miami led Ohio State 17-14 when it got the ball at its own 30-yard line with 5:06 left in the fourth quarter and drove 70 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown in the final minute to make it a 24-14 game. Until then, OSU had not given up more than 16 points in a game this season. SPECIAL TEAMS Regular season: B- Postseason: C- Statistically, Jayden Fielding had a good field goals made percentage in his career but his misses in some big games are what many Ohio State fans associate with him. He missed a 27-yarder in the fourth quarter against Indiana that would have tied the game and had a miss from 49 yards against Miami. There also was a special teams blunder that might have helped Miami run out the clock when OSU lined up in an illegal formation on the punt the Hurricanes received before their last drive. On the punt erased by the penalty Miami would have started from its own 10-yard line. On the second punt it started on its own 30-yard line. OVERALL Regular-season: A Postseason: C+ Ohio State ended Michigan's four-year dominance of the rivalry and exceeded preseason expectations by going 12-0 in the regular season. With seven players named first-team All-Americans by various organizations and a Heisman Trophy finalist it was a team which had a real chance to repeat as national champion. But Indiana and Miami – the two best teams Ohio State faced – played better.